Let's talk football

I haven’t talked football in a while, so I figured I’d share some of my recent thoughts in a column.

I haven’t talked football in a while, so I figured I’d share some of my recent thoughts in a column.

I’ll start with the Packers. The Pack are 1-2 so far, which isn’t the best record to start with, but there is more here than meets the eye. The Packers gave the 49ers one heck of a game to start the season despite the loss. The second game was an easy win over the Redskins. Two weeks ago, the Packers barely lost again, this time to the Bengals. The main reason they lost here was because of a turnover made by rookie Jeremy Ross on a kick off return. The dropped ball by Ross gave the Bengals an easy touchdown, which definitely played a major role in their 34-30 win. I always wonder why some coaches put their faith in rookies to be in charge of a kick return. It's one of the most important jobs in the game to hold on to the ball and be smart on the return, so why give it to an inexperienced rookie? Doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway, all of this taken in consideration, I believe the Packers will still be a strong team this year. The guards and the tackles need to better protect Aaron Rodgers.

Now on to the Vikings. The Vikings got their first win last Sunday, over the Steelers. This was the first game where things were going right for them. Former Packer Greg Jennings made his Vikings touchdown debut, while Adrian Peterson scored two of his own, and Matt Cassel threw pretty well. Not to mention, Jared Allen recorded 2.5 sacks against Big Ben. This is how the Vikings should be playing each week. The talent and skill level is there. I honestly think this game was so successful because Christian Ponder wasn’t quarterback. Obviously it helped playing against another 0-3 team, but I still believe the Vikings could easily make playoffs each year if they had a better quarterback. And this week, Cassel seemed to do the job.

Locally, St. Mary’s had an incredible win over New Ulm Cathedral last Friday. The Knights showed they can play well under pressure, which is crucial come playoff time. They have multiple threats on their offensive line with Brandon Helget throwing well as QB, David Surprenant running well as RB, and strong wide receivers too. And as we all are aware, their defense is one of the strongest.

Meanwhile, the Indians have struggled so far this season, but there is no doubt they are improving as a team. Matt Berkner and Juan Montemayor have stepped up as lead rushers and are running very well. If they had a stronger defense, the Indians would have much closer games. The thing I am most impressed about is the strong communication and support shown by the players. Every Indian on the sideline is always rooting on their team no matter the score, which shows great loyalty.